Project: Pantry…still in progress
Posted By FarmerJ on February 3, 2010
Wow! I didn’t realize how lackadaisical I’ve been about updating you on the progress of Project: Pantry. No wonder Darling Husbie keeps poking and prodding me! If it’s been too long for you to remember where we left off, you can check out the last photos with that link. Basically, all that was done was the frame for the wall, the lights, the light switch and the door put in place. But, this is where we are now! I’m beyond anxious to get it fully completed and get everything set up just so!
Here, Dominic has installed the outlet for the freezers, which will be able to stand side-by-side. He had to redo his wiring, though ~ he had initially tapped into the wire that fed the lights, which meant that when the light switch was turned off, so was the power to the outlet…not going to work for the freezers, Son! His mind was on other things, perhaps not so unusual for a boy who’d just turned 18 years old the day before and who was still in shock that his best buddy from Arizona had just flown in that morning to surprise him for his birthday. They had places to go, things to do and people to see, so he made sure he got it right the second time.
Good thing, too, as Darling Husbie was waiting on Dominic to finish so he could begin putting up the walls. We decided on Lauan wood for the walls with a generous coating of Natural varnish. The first photo shows the walls after I varnished them. It gives them just enough luster to bring out the natural beauty of the wood grain. Darling Husbie instructed me that there is a ‘right’ side and a ‘wrong’ side to Lauan. Of course, I really preferred the ‘wrong’ side because it has so much more character with the knot holes ~ I was always lovingly referred to as a ‘knot head’ when I was younger…perhaps that’s where the psychological damage appeal comes from?!
I spy…a Darling Husbie! We’re never too busy for a little silliness here on the Farmstead. He’s supposed to be cutting the last piece of Lauan so that we can call it a night and eat dinner ~ that is, if I hadn’t vaporized it.
It took me a couple of days last week in between other projects to get the walls varnished. Darling Husbie was able to get the floor done in a short afternoon ~ we decided on wood laminate flooring. It seems to ‘fit the bill’ pretty well for the pantry. We were then ready for some trim pieces. Darling Husbie is making our own custom trim with 1 x 4′s and a router. [Really, making his own trim pieces was an easy segway into getting a new router! That's okay, though, we needed to replace the one we lost in the shop disastrophy.]
The floor trim pieces are cut and varnished; they’re just waiting for Darling Husbie to use his air nailer to secure them in place. Then, he’ll be ready to complete the trim around the door frame. That will leave us with the ceiling and crown molding and move-in day! We’re almost there!
Remember all those hours on New Year’s Day I spent arranging everything so precisely on the shelves ~ the thing that sparked this whole project? Well, here’s the chaos now. It only took me about 15 minutes to undo what I’d done. Everything is haphazardly stacked along the wall, which is totally against every OCD bone in my body! But, oh, the therapy I will get by placing it all back into the Prairie Farmstead Pantry on move-in day!
Oh! Here is a little peek at the gambrel walk-through I briefly mentioned when rambling about projects begetting projects. Originally, this walk-through was the width of all 7 joists you can see at the top of the photo. I won’t go into the lack of construction done by the builder / previous owner ~ I’ll just say that the ceiling above, which happens to be the floor of our master bedroom was…um…sagging a bit. So, Darling Husbie commenced to jacking the joists back up, putting in some worthy reinforcements and narrowed the walk-through. It all fits into the plans for the future guest suite and utility closet to the left and right respectively on the other side of that wall.
I’ll post some photos of the finished pantry ~ hopefully soon. Darling Husbie has to work this weekend, so it may be a couple of weeks yet before we’re able to get the ceiling and remaining trim in.
Wow. I know you must be so excited…or you will be once the varnish fumes clear. That is one fine, fine pantry y’all are building!
“projects begetting projects”
I love that phrase, as that is so applicable to all of our projects. In fact Friday’s post will be a long whine about our closet project I think.
Tomorrow’s post is another recipe, I am on a roll at the moment. Also an update on Molly.
Gill in Canada